The 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a recent NLRB decision thus helping unions intent on organizing hospital workers.
The Healthcare Employees Union had argued to the NLRB that the St. Vincent Medical Center in New York City had prevented workers from unionizing by subcontracting out respiratory jobs just before workers were to vote on unionization. The NLRB rejected that argument, which the 9th Circuit has now overturned in a 2-1 decision.
“We would have to ignore a powerful string of coincidences to conclude that St. Vincent would have implemented subcontracting, when and as it did, in the absence of union activity,” Judge Harry Pregerson wrote in the majority’s decision. Senior Judge William Canby wrote that the NLRB had not taken into account evidence of “anti-union animus
If a healthcare facility wants to defeat a union organizing effort, it cannot wait until that union comes knocking on its front door. It must put in place union-proofing strategies well in advance of organizing efforts. No company knows when an Appeals court will reverse a once-favorable NLRB decision. Those who are not prepared have invited unto themselves labor relations problems that could have easily been avoided.
